Urgent, urgent, emergency

In May 1932, as Great Depression breadlines lengthened, Gov. Franklin Roosevelt told Oglethorpe University graduates: “The country needs and unless I mistake its temper the country demands bold, persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.”

This is not the second Great Depression — not yet. But two straight weeks of unimaginable job losses leave no doubt that the economic catastrophe facing America amidst the coronavirus shutdown is unlike anything imaginable.

Last week, 3.3 million Americans filed initial jobless claims. This week, 6.65 million Americans did. That second total is nearly 10 times the previous record, set in 1982.

We are among those who believe that, with hospitals overflowing with the sick, with fear gripping many communities, with COVID-19 now America’s third-leading cause of death each day, we have no choice in the near term but to continue the clampdown that has ground the economy to a near-standstill.

We are also among those who know that the nation will have to find ways as soon as responsible from a public health perspective to flip the switch back on, by rapidly scaling up speedy testing and rolling out robust protections for those most vulnerable to the virus.

Meantime, Congress must understand that the passage of two gargantuan pieces of legislation, including a $2 trillion stimulus, is only the start of its work.

Speed the unconscionable multi-month wait for promised $1,200-per-person mailed checks; Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin promised he’d do so Thursday evening, without details. Create new government jobs programs. Tax the wealthiest to aid those who have suddenly seen the bottom fall out.

Bold, persistent experimentation. Do it now, or the past won’t just be prologue. It’ll be preview for a bleaker sequel.